Chapter 26 #2
My hand claps down over her ass as I walk from the kitchen, and she yelps.
Diego’s gaze jerks from the TV as I carry Chloe out of the kitchen, ass first. Offering him a small one shouldered shrug that makes him grin, I give her legs a tug so that she’s sliding down the front of my body.
When she lands, she opens those plump lips to throw a fit, but I place one finger roughly over them.
“What’s going on in there?” I lift the finger to tap her forehead, right above the smudge, which makes it crumple into an adorable scowl.
“Nothing, I’m fine.”
“Okay, so you’re fine.” I shrug and turn to walk away, heading for the sweeping stairwell. Three, two, one…
“It’s just—” I spin around, masking the smile threatening to pull up at my lips. She pauses, her scarlet painted fingers fiddling with the hem of my T-shirt at her thigh. “I’m freaking out a little,” she admits, her eyes darting around the room, looking at anything but me as her cheeks flush.
“I see that,” I reply dryly, slipping my hands into my pockets and waiting.
Her eyes fall on Diego, who is already gaping open-mouthed at the TV. World war three could probably kick off right here and he wouldn’t notice. “About that…game we played last night,” she starts, sliding her eyes to mine.
Ah, code word. “Good game. Lots of rounds. I won most of them.” I flash her a devilish smile, picturing her writhing body beneath mine as she tried to tap out.
“Yes, well.” Her cheeks pool a darker pink. “I just think maybe we should talk about it. Lay out some ground rules so we don’t play again.”
Sucking in a slow breath through my nostrils, I assess her.
She straightens her back under my attention.
“I like playing that game with you, Chloe. And if I have it my way, we’ll play again.
” I prowl slowly toward her, watching her plush lips fall apart and her pupils blow wide.
“We’ll play in every room and on every surface in this place until neither one of us can—”
“Yes, thank you! I’ve got the picture,” she snaps, taking a measured step back.
“I’d be happy to paint it for you in more vivid color, if you like?” I tease, closing the space between us and gripping her chin between my forefinger and thumb, tilting her head upward.
Her brows knit together and fire flares in her crystalline eyes. “If you’re so desperate to play the game, maybe you should go and find another opponent?”
I rear back a few inches, nostrils flared as anger ignites in my chest. My thumb turns white on her chin, and I drop my grip before I accidentally hurt her.
“Don’t say things you don’t mean, Chloe.
” It doesn’t sneak by me that weeks ago, this is exactly what I wanted.
I’m angry because my pride is bruised—that’s what I’m going with—because the thought of her with someone else makes me want to tear this apartment to pieces.
“Well, maybe that would be better than whatever this is. As long as you’re…” She sucks in a deep breath and blinks rapidly twice, looking away. “Discreet,” she breathes, nibbling on her lip.
“And you? Will you be being discreet with someone else?” I spit the words at her as my hands ball to fists.
“No…I… Well, maybe I will!” She grapples with her answer, her nose scrunching as she glares at me. Over my dead fucking body.
“We had an agreement and I expect you to uphold it. There will be no playing with anyone else, for either of us.” My words crack through the air like a guillotine delivering a death sentence, leaving a hushed silence around the cheery cartoon. “I’m heading out, I’ll send Maria up to watch Diego.”
I need to get out of here before I do something out of line like drag her upstairs kicking and screaming to remind her just why she shouldn’t be considering fucking anyone else. Wildfire rips through my veins as I turn on my heel, not trusting myself to even say goodbye to Diego.
“Zeke!” she calls out and I halt, my feet turning of their own accord to face her.
Every muscle in my body vibrates with anger, and her rough swallow tells me she sees it.
She opens her mouth to speak and then snaps it shut, the corners of her lips pulling down into a frown.
When she opens them again, I get the impression she’s holding back.
“I can watch Diego, if…if that’s okay with you. I’ve kind of missed the kid.”
Gluing my jaw shut to save myself from saying something I’ll regret, I nod curtly once and then storm out into the lobby.
***
“Are you going to tell him, or am I?” Mia sighs, casting her gaze sideways at her husband.
Mason’s eyes assess his wife stoically where she sits on the couch, bouncing her knee where their daughter Macey grapples with Mia’s long, brunette hair.
I came to the first place I could think of, and conveniently the closest, which is Mason and Mia’s penthouse, located just down the river from mine.
“That’s your domain, but I’m not sure he’s ready for it,” Mason replies, knocking back the remainder of his scotch and leaning against the floor-to-ceiling window. The sun is setting over the New York skyline in a kaleidoscope of orange and red and yellow, throwing the sky into a golden glow.
Mia turns her head back to me at the same time as baby Macey struggles in her grip.
She sets her down on the plush beige carpet and the small girl toddles toward me on unsteady legs, all wide ice blue eyes, dark hair, and rosy cheeks.
It takes me back to Diego’s first steps.
I had never felt so proud for something so benign as two stumbled steps from a coffee table before he plunked back down on his ass.
“You’re falling in love with her, Zeke.”
That snatches my attention away quicker than I can blink. When I see she’s serious, I tip my head back and laugh. The kind of deep belly laugh that steals your breath away.
“Told you,” Mason muses, his lips twitching as he pushes off the window and heads for the drinks cart.
When I’ve finally managed to recover myself, I hold my half empty glass up to her in a silent toast. “You’ve been drinking your own Kool-Aid, Amelia Walker.”
“Okay,” she says evenly, unperturbed. “If it's not that, then what is it? You turned down a free hall pass to sleep with other women, you don’t want her to sleep with other men, and you’re sitting in our house on a Sunday evening drinking merely because she suggested it.”
I knock back the last of my scotch as I consider her words and nod curtly at Mason, who offers the unstoppered crystal decanter he’s just poured his own refill from.
“It's not like I don’t want to sleep with other women—I still find them attractive, I just don’t want to risk any whispering about our engagement.
I need this to be believable and you know why.
” The words burn my tongue like acid on the way out and I grunt an uneasy thanks to Mason as he tips golden liquid into my glass.
Now it’s Mia’s turn to laugh. “Oh Zeke.” She’s using an exasperated voice that wouldn’t be out of place when addressing an errant child, but her smile is kind. “Being in love doesn’t mean you’re dead between the legs. I still find other men attractive, just nowhere near as much as my husband.”
“Good to know,” Mason cuts in dryly, his eyes sparkling as he glances at his wife.
She tips her head and offers him a sly wink, just as a small chubby hand slaps down on my knee.
“Oye amorcito.” I smile gently at Macey as she gives me a wide, toothy smile.
“Mommy go!” she shouts before babbling incoherently.
I glance up at Mason, but he shrugs. “It’s the phrase of the week.”
Letting out a low chuckle, I shake my head, tipping it back to stare at the vaulted ceilings high above.
I’ve never been in love before, but this can’t be that.
I don’t do love. I fuck who I want, and I enjoy it.
That isn’t going to change. I just want Chloe because she’s there and her brand of weird turns me on, more so since she’s taken it off the table.
It’s simple human psychology—wanting what you can’t have.
“I’m not falling in love with her, and I think my pity party is over.” I sigh, draining my glass and placing it onto the side table with a soft click. Mia twists her lips into a disbelieving smile but doesn’t say any more.
“Thanks for the drink.” I stand, offering Mason a nod before turning and heading for the exit.